Our purpose
Reading Australia was created by the not-for-profit Copyright Agency in 2013 with the goal of making it easier for teachers, through their passion and skills, to spread a love for Australian texts. We believe that every society needs to tell its own stories, and the best way we can achieve this is to provide quality and insightful resources to support English and literacy teachers in bringing Australia’s rich and unique literature into classrooms.
Reading Australia champions Australia’s rich literary history and presents thoughtful, stimulating, challenging and sometimes provocative literary works. These reflect the stories we tell as a nation and connect teachers with diverse and robust voices. While we do not always share or endorse the views of titles on Reading Australia, we believe these works should be available for all Australian readers and students.
The books
Reading Australia began as a list of 200 books, chosen by a panel from the Australian Society of Authors, that celebrated the work of our leading writers and illustrators in telling the Australian story. The list has since expanded to include a further 286 titles, covering all genres and periods of Australia’s literary history (visit the Books page to view the full list).
Titles are now selected by Australian literature and literacy experts, teachers, writing industry stakeholders, First Nations writing representatives and diverse sector representatives. You can learn more about our text selection process here.
The resources
There are currently 275 resources covering all year levels from Foundation to Senior Secondary, with more added regularly throughout the year. The primary resources have been developed by the Australian Literacy Educators’ Association (ALEA) and Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA), and the secondary resources by the Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE) and NSW English Teachers’ Association.
These units of work are designed to help teachers navigate Australian texts within the framework of the Australian Curriculum. They include curriculum codes, sample classroom and assessment activities and links to other relevant online resources to assist with teaching and engaging students across a suggested time frame. Additionally:
- There are 100 essays for secondary-level titles written by eminent authors, academics and critics. These personal responses from some of Australia’s most engaging writers provide fresh and sharp perspectives on the books’ underlying themes, concepts and influences.
- The Podcasts section contains resources based on The Garret: Writers on Writing. In this podcast, host Astrid Edwards interviews some of Australia’s best writers about how and why they do what they do.
- 19 titles feature AustLit information trails: curated collections of information covering the title’s context, themes and more, plus links to academic research and publications. You can find these titles in our dedicated collection.
Teachers can register for a FREE account to bookmark their favourite resources and make notes for future reference. We issue a newsletter every six weeks containing the latest resources and other opportunities for students and teachers. More content is being added all the time, so sign up to have it delivered straight to your inbox!
Updated 22 August 2023